Blo' Norton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the Breckland district of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, England, on the

River Little Ouse The River Little Ouse is a river in the east of England, a tributary of the River Great Ouse. For much of its length it defines the boundary between Norfolk and Suffolk. It rises east of Thelnetham, close to the source of the River Waveney, ...

, about west of Diss. The 2001 Census recorded the parish population as 270 people, living in about 100 households.

Early history

Blo' Norton's unusual

placename Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

is reputedly derived from ‘Blae’, itself derived from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

and

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

words meaning both ‘cold’ and ‘blue’. The ‘blue’ could refer to the

woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...

plant that grows in wetter areas and is a source of traditional blue dye. ‘Norton’ is a settlement on the north side of the river. The first record of 'Blo' added to the name is in 1291, which in

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

may have meant 'bleak and cold or exposed' or it may have derived from ‘blae’ meaning blue, perhaps from the growth of the woad plants from which a blue dye can be obtained.

Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an American–British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has b ...

mentioned the placename in his book '' Notes From A Small Island''. The name was also briefly featured in an episode of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

television show ''

So Graham Norton ''So Graham Norton'' is a British television chat show hosted by Irish personality Graham Norton. It aired on Channel 4 from 3 July 1998 to 1 March 2002. Theme The show was primarily adult-oriented, with host Norton dishing out many sexual in ...

''. There is evidence of people living in the area from Anglo-Saxon times, and perhaps from the

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

period. Aerial photographs show outlines of buildings and tracks that may be from the Romano-British period, near to Blo' Norton Hall.

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...

was built in the 13th century, remodelled in the 14th century and restored in 1879. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. The west tower has a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of six bells. Thomas Osborn, who had bell-foundries at

Downham Market Downham Market, sometimes simply referred to as Downham, is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It lies on the edge of the Fens, on the River Great Ouse, approximately 11 miles south of King's Lynn, 39 miles west of Norwich and 30 ...

in Norfolk and St Neots in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

, cast five of the bells including the tenor in 1794.

John Warner & Sons John Warner and Sons was a metalworks and bellfoundry based in various locations in the UK, established in 1739 and dissolved in 1949. Previous businesses A company was founded by Jacob Warner, a Quaker, in 1739 and originally produced water pu ...

Cripplegate Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London. The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into ...

, London cast the treble bell in 1892.

Blo' Norton Hall

Blo' Norton Hall is a timber-framed, moated Tudor

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

at the end of an avenue of lime trees west of St Andrew's church. It was enlarged in Elizabethan style in 1585. It is a Grade II* listed building. In the summer of 1906

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

(1882–1941) stayed at Blo' Norton Hall. The visit inspired her short story, "The Journal of Miss Joan Martyn".

Blo' Norton and Thelnetham Fen

South of the village and along the river is the Blo' Norton and Thelnetham Fen Site of Special Scientific Interest, an important calcareous

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich Groundwater, ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as ...

wetland site supporting rare plant species including black bog rush '' Schoenus nigricans'' and saw sedge ''

Cladium mariscus ''Cladium mariscus'' is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names swamp sawgrass, great fen-sedge, saw-sedge or sawtooth sedge. Previously it was known as elk sedge. It is native of temperate Europe and Asia wher ...

''. The Little Ouse Headwaters Project manages part of this area as well as surrounding wetland areas such as Hinderclay Fen and

Suffolk Wildlife Trust Suffolk Wildlife Trust (SWT) describes itself as the county's "nature charity – the only organisation dedicated wholly to safeguarding Suffolk's wildlife and countryside." It is a registered charity, and its headquarters is at Brooke House in ...

also has a reserve on part of the site.

Prince Frederick Duleep Singh

Prince "Freddy" Frederick Duleep Singh (1868–1926) lived at Blo' Norton Hall for the last 20 years of his life and is buried in St Andrew's parish churchyard. For this reason Blo' Norton is part of the Anglo-Sikh Heritage trail.

Frogstock festival

The village used to host the Frogstock festival, which was established in 1995 as a local music festival in answer to the perceived over-commercialisation of festivals such as

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

. Frogstock was last held in 2011.

War Memorial

Blo' Norton's War Memorial is located at the junction between Church Lane and The Street, and the takes the form of a stone cross with an octagonal base. It was unveiled on 7 November 1920 and was funded by donations from local charities and the people of Blo' Norton. Imperial War Memorial. (2022). Retrieved November 06, 2022. https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/19713 It holds the following names for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

: * Second-Lieutenant C. Chad Armstrong-Norris (1899-1917), No. 70 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps * Ernest Footer And, the following for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

: * Corporal William A. Ruddock (d.1944), 7th Battalion,

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

* Leading-Aircraftman William H. Valentine (1905-1942), No. 2771 (Air Defense) Squadron, RAF Regiment * Gunner T. Kenneth Cook (d.1943), 179th (Anti-Aircraft) Regiment,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Civil parishes in Norfolk Villages in Norfolk Breckland District